Niffler Cake
Inspired by the little furry creature from Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them - here's how to make an adorable Niffler Cake!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 795kcal
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- Squeeze bottle (or piping bag or spoon; for cake drip)
- large piping bag + star tip (optional; I piped frosting onto the cake top to hold the decorations but you could use an offset spatula or spoon)
- Stuffed Niffler (I can't find these at Hot Topic anymore :( but they're available online! I also used a small cup and a piece of tape to hold the Niffler off the cake top - you could use a cup or a small piece of parchment paper)
Ingredients
Cake layers
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (350g)
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar (450g)
- 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (100g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (5g)
- ¾ teaspoon salt (4g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks/250g; softened)
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (350mL)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Black Cocoa frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup black cocoa powder
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 2-3 drops Black gel food coloring
Black Chocolate Ganache drip
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream (6 ounces)
- 2-3 drops black gel food coloring
Decorations
- Gold and silver candies and decorations! (I used Hershey’s gold chocolates, chocolate gold coins, and some foil-wrapped chocolates)
- Gold and silver sprinkles
- Gold or silver party bead necklace (optional) (I draped one of these over the decorations on top of the cake - optional as it's not edible, but it added a fun look to the decorations)
- 1 teaspoon Gold and/or silver luster dust (optional; to color cake drip)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vodka - optional; to color cake drip)
- New or food-safe paintbrush (optional; to color cake drip)
Instructions
Cake layers
- Preheat an oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured spray and/or line pans with parchment rounds.
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle (or hand mixer or whisk) until well combined. Add in bits of softened butter, mixing until no lumps of butter are visible and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds.
- Fill the three pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 550g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
Black Cocoa frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with cocoa powder and milk until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Add vanilla, food color, and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler.
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting. (I added some gold/silver sprinkles, but they weren't really visible when the cake was cut). Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like - a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge or freezer to set the frosting.
Black Chocolate Ganache drip
- Place chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Add whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until fully melted and smooth. Add gel food color and stir until fully combined.
- Allow to cool to a moderate temperature - it should still be liquid but feel only slightly warm - and transfer to a squeeze bottle or piping bag. (A spoon will work; you'll just have a bit less control over the drips.)
- Slowly drizzle ganache around the upper edge of your cake, pausing every inch or so to let more ganache fall in a drip down the side of the cake. Return cake to the fridge or freezer to set the drips. You can also cover the top of the cake in ganache, but it won’t show under the decorations so that’s up to you!
Decorating
- (This step is optional (and a bit time-consuming) but if you’d like to color your ganache drip – once the drips are firmly set, mix a teaspoon of luster dust with a teaspoon of vanilla extract or vodka and carefully paint the drips with a food-safe paintbrush.)
- To decorate the cake, place the niffler on top of the cake (on top of a small cup or parchment paper to keep the fur off the cake top).
- Transfer remaining frosting to a piping bag, and pipe small swirls of frosting around the cake top to hold gold coins / chocolates in place. (This should also help hide the cup or paper under the Niffler).
- Decorate the top of the cake with allllll the gold/silver/shiny coins/candies/sprinkles/decorations you’d like – I added a few around the base of the cake as well wherever they fit around the drips.
- Take a picture and send it to all your geek friends!! Yelling to whoever might be listening about how excited you are about your cake from the kitchen as you finish it is optional, but I definitely did and highly recommend it! ;) Enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate. Counts will be lower in all fields if entire batch of frosting (or ganache) is not used.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 795kcal | Carbohydrates: 102g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 39g